This invention relates to picture archiving and communications, and more particularly relates to apparatus and methods which provide access to data stored in multiple image storage units at different locations.
Current picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) operate with individual data bases for images, reference data, and so forth, for each individual site or short-term storage (STS) location. While STS's may be linked, such as in large institutions or hospitals having branches and related organizations, the data bases are nevertheless maintained independently and can only be accessed through a network connection between the STS's. As a result, a user must have knowledge of an image or a data location and perform a query of the system in order to locate a desired image or data. The present invention addresses this problem and provides a solution.